News Scan for Jul 19, 2016

News brief

Infections nearly double in 8 poultry-linked Salmonella outbreaks

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today reported another outbreak of Salmonella linked to live poultry in backyard flocks, with 287 new cases and 10 previously unaffected states reporting infections. Those cases nearly double the 324 that the CDC reported on Jun 2.

To date 45 states have reported Salmonella illness, with a total of 611 people infected, making 2016 the biggest year for infections linked to backyard birds.

The CDC said illnesses have been reported from Jan 4 to Jun 25, and they expect more throughout the summer. Roughly 22% of people (138) have been hospitalized, with one death reported. Most cases have been traced to contact with live poultry, including chicks and ducks, from multiple hatcheries.

States with the highest number of cases are New York (67), Ohio (56), Michigan (44), North Carolina (36), and Kentucky (35).

Thirty-two percent of infections (195 cases) have been seen in children aged 5 years or younger. In its press release on the outbreaks, the CDC reminded all pet and live-poultry owners that children under the age of 5 years should not be handling poultry. Even if birds look clean, they can still carry the harmful Salmonella bacteria on their bodies, the agency said.
Jul 19 CDC press release
Jun 3 CIDRAP news story

PAHO reports almost 1,500 new chikungunya cases

New chikungunya cases continue to be reported in the Americas, according to a Jul 18 Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) update. From Jul 8 to Jul 15, PAHO reported only 1,479 new suspected or confirmed cases, bringing the total in the Americas this year to 195,628.

The previous two weekly PAHO updates noted 950 and 903 cases, respectively.

Brazil, which has the most cases of the mosquito-borne disease this year, reported no new infections, leaving its 2016 total at 122,762 suspected and confirmed cases. Colombia, which had also seen rising rates of infection in the last several weeks reported only 179 new cases, bringing that country’s total to 17, 446. Colombia did, however, report 9 new deaths. There have been 27 deaths from chikungunya this year in the Americas.

Central America had the most activity during the week, with Honduras reporting 451 new cases, raising its total to 12,504 cases. Guatemala reported 247 new cases, bringing its total for 2016 to 2,433 cases.

The current chikungunya outbreak began in December 2013 on St. Martin in the Caribbean with the first recorded cases of the disease in the Americas.
Jul 18 PAHO report

Avian Flu Scan for Jul 19, 2016

News brief

More than 6,000 chickens, ducks infected with H5N1 in southwest France

After a quiet 3 months, France is reporting avian flu activity in the southwestern part of the country, according to Avian Flu Diary, an infectious disease blog. The 2 new outbreaks raise the total number of French outbreaks to 79 since November of 2015.

Translated reports from the French Ministry of Agriculture detailed an outbreak of H5N1 in the department of Dordogne in outdoor chickens. On Jul 18, 4,400 infected outdoor chickens were found on a farm in the town of Ladornac. Dordogne saw 15 outbreaks of H5N1 over the winter, with the most recent outbreak in late February.

The second outbreak was in in Aveyron, where 2,080 ducks were infected on a farm in Vareilles. According to Avian Flu Diary, this is the first outbreak of H5N1 in Aveyron.

To date, all French outbreaks have been located in the southwest and have not caused illness in humans. The highly pathogenic avian flu strains are of European origin.
Jul 19 Avian Flu Diary report

Chinese waterfowl samples shed light on H5N6 evolution

Migratory waterfowl may play a role in spreading novel H5N6 avian flu in China, according to a genetic analysis of three viruses from fecal samples collected during surveillance in Hubei province wetlands, Chinese researchers reported today in Nature Medicine.

Phylogenetic reconstruction of all eight segments also yielded new clues about the evolution of the virus, which is closely related to the ones that caused the first known human infection involving the strain in 2014. So far 15 cases have been reported, 9 of them fatal. All were in China.

The investigators found that the virus's hemagglutinin originated from H5N2 avian flu, and the neuraminidase came from H6N6. The six internal genes are all from H5N1.

The group's study of the genetic family tree suggests that reassortment took place in eastern China from 2012 to 2013. They also traced the virus to southern China, where it spread to other areas in the eastern part of the country.

In receptor-binding experiments, the researchers found that the waterfowl version of H5N6 had human-type binding activity, hinting at a possible risk to humans.
Jul 19 Nat Med study